Google says no plans for iOS 6 mapping app “yet”

Eric Schmidt says it would have been better if Apple stayed with Google.

iOS 6's Maps now has turn-by-turn driving directions, but without the help of Google.

Here's some bad news for the haters of iOS 6's new Maps: there is no Google equivalent waiting in the wings. Google Executive Chairman Eric Schmidt confirmed on Tuesday that his company has not submitted a mapping app of its own to Apple's App Store, though he didn't entirely rule out the idea.

"We have not done anything yet," Schmidt said in reference to a rumored Google Maps application for iOS, according to Reuters. "We think it would have been better if [Apple] had kept ours. But what do I know? What were we going to do, force them not to change their mind? It's their call."

Schmidt went on to say that Google is still open to partnering with Apple—"We welcome that"—but that Apple will ultimately do what it wants. He also pointed out that Google's own offerings through Android have performed well, implying that dissatisfied iOS 6 users might consider making the switch. "Apple is the exception, and the Android system is the common model, which is why our market share is so much higher," Schmidt said.

Apple recently promised its Maps app would continue to be improved over time, but some users remain dissatisfied with that aspect of the company's break-up with Google. In addition to some phantom locations and strange driving directions, urban users are displeased with the absence of built-in transit directions, though third-party developers have already begun to step up in order to fill the gaps in transit.

207 Reader Comments

Okay, so I guess that answers my question of which company actually made the decision to keep Google Maps off of iOS.

What it doesn't say is if Google forced Apple's hand by offering ridiculous terms or anything like that. I wouldn't put that past them. They're not dumb, they knew Apple would dump them eventually, so why not try to extort them while you can? And if they say 'no,' they release a product that's not ready for mass consumption that you can ridicule ad nauseum. Win-Win.

In the long run, it'll be great for consumers. Google has little competition in the maps area, and since maps are so crucial to the mobile experience, Apple will not just throw in the towel. Eventually, they will get their ducks in a row, and then we'll all benefit. But, for now, Google obviously has the upper hand.

"Apple is the exception, and the Android system is the common model, which is why our market share is so much higher,"

Yes, we'd all be so much better off if Apple just gave up this silly iOS business and started shipping phones part of the Common Model™. Google used to be all about providing great services no matter what platform you were on. Now what do the stand for?

The best thing people can do is contribute feedback from the app itself. Yeah you can make a shortcut to maps.google.com on your home screen or use a competing program.......but the only way it can improve is user feedback. Google's webpage isn't the greatest, but it will have to do for now. Fortunately for me the maps works fine, but I don't go to many places outside of Houston and I have a good general sense of direction.

Submit feedback and the product will improve. It won't be months, but years. Remember, Google has a head start of over 5 years.

"Apple is the exception, and the Android system is the common model, which is why our market share is so much higher,"

Yes, we'd all be so much better off if Apple just gave up this silly iOS business and started shipping phones part of the Common Model™. Google used to be all about providing great services no matter what platform you were on. Now what do the stand for?

You can't tell me Google didn't see this coming? Google could easily have built an app in time. They are now holding off on purpose. Don't put all the blame on Apple for this pissing match.

Sounds like you're being an apologist. All the blame goes to Apple because it was their decision to ditch Google Maps. Why should Google have to submit an application that may get declined all because Apple is too high and mighty to admit that their software generally sucks?

"Apple is the exception, and the Android system is the common model, which is why our market share is so much higher,"

Yes, we'd all be so much better off if Apple just gave up this silly iOS business and started shipping phones part of the Common Model™. Google used to be all about providing great services no matter what platform you were on. Now what do the stand for?

...You can still get Google Maps through your phone's browser..

And it's even better than the old app! A lot of the complaining doesn't make much sense to me; the old Maps app wasn't that good either.

The pain in transitioning from Google maps to Apple will be temporary. Google maps are riddled with errors too if you care to look - the satellite images of our region are years behind the Apple's (which seems to be very recent) and all the local businesses are wrong in the Google maps (and right in Apple's).

Every mapping/routing app I've used has errors and omissions - you really can't afford to absolutely trust the data. Even my satnav occasionally tries to send me the wrong way up one way streets and once got lost when the (new) roads I was driving on hadn't been entered yet. Keeping this stuff up to date is going to be a major hassle I think.

Frankly, I think it's good to have a competitor to Google. Some of things it does - even with competition - are really creepy.

I don't care about Maps one damn bit as I'm a Wi-Fi iPad user. But dammit they need to get the iPad YouTube app ready already. The iPhone one just looks like ass on the iPad and thanks to the mishandling of account linking on Google's part I can't log in to my YouTube account on Safari or Chrome on iPad because then I wouldn't be logged into Google+ which I use on a far more frequent basis than YouTube. With the YouTube apps at least I can log in to my used-but-not-linked YouTube account. Anyway: get on the YouTUbe iPad app dammit Google! Don't take as long as you did to fix Google+ for iPad either... >_<

The problems with Apple Maps will all blow over. Unlike it's competitors, Apple has special magical powers. Apple has the unique ability to wave its magic wand and make everything better. The problems with Apple Maps will fade into the past like a bad dream. Apple wants to reassure you that this will all be fixed before you get around the street corner, into the Apple store and eventually move to the front of the line to buy your iPhone 5.

Who knows? By the time you get to the front of the line, the iPhone 6 may be available. Then who will be laughing at those who did not have the patience to wait in an Apple line?

Sounds like you're being an apologist. All the blame goes to Apple because it was their decision to ditch Google Maps. Why should Google have to submit an application that may get declined all because Apple is too high and mighty to admit that their software generally sucks?

How lucky we are that you took the time to sit in on all Apple's confidential negotiations with Google so we could be clear on exactly where the blame lies! We look forward to your transcripts.

The pain in transitioning from Google maps to Apple will be temporary. Google maps are riddled with errors too if you care to look - the satellite images of our region are years behind the Apple's (which seems to be very recent) and all the local businesses are wrong in the Google maps (and right in Apple's).

That hasn't been my experience, and I've used mine all across the country. Particularly in rural areas. I'm frequently surprised at how accurate Google Maps is.

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Frankly, I think it's good to have a competitor to Google. Some of things it does - even with competition - are really creepy.

Competition is a very good thing. Too bad Apple doesn't share that sentiment. They'd rather sue their competitors out of existence.

You can't tell me Google didn't see this coming? Google could easily have built an app in time. They are now holding off on purpose. Don't put all the blame on Apple for this pissing match.

Sounds like you're being an apologist. All the blame goes to Apple because it was their decision to ditch Google Maps. Why should Google have to submit an application that may get declined all because Apple is too high and mighty to admit that their software generally sucks?

I wonder if it is related to pricing negotiations. It wouldn't surprise me that Google was charging Apple for every map tile loaded on an iOS device since the app was included by Apple. Other app/website developers pay for tile loads in their apps/sites. A Google submitted app to the App Store would presumably be Google's bill to foot, or they could charge the user an up front fee to cover it.

I don't care about Maps one damn bit as I'm a Wi-Fi iPad user. But dammit they need to get the iPad YouTube app ready already. The iPhone one just looks like ass on the iPad and thanks to the mishandling of account linking on Google's part I can't log in to my YouTube account on Safari or Chrome on iPad because then I wouldn't be logged into Google+ which I use on a far more frequent basis than YouTube. With the YouTube apps at least I can log in to my used-but-not-linked YouTube account. Anyway: get on the YouTUbe iPad app dammit Google! Don't take as long as you did to fix Google+ for iPad either... >_<

I wouldn't be surprised if Google decided to have iPads use their web interface as it's a large device...

You can't tell me Google didn't see this coming? Google could easily have built an app in time. They are now holding off on purpose. Don't put all the blame on Apple for this pissing match.

Sounds like you're being an apologist. All the blame goes to Apple because it was their decision to ditch Google Maps. Why should Google have to submit an application that may get declined all because Apple is too high and mighty to admit that their software generally sucks?

Yeah why should Google have competition? And why should Apple provide a service that gives users what they want without selling their personal data to advertisers? Funny, I could call you an apologist for Google if the rules around here aren't designed to discourage such personal attacks.

The difference between Apple and Google is that Apple isn't in it to sell advertising.

The pain in transitioning from Google maps to Apple will be temporary. Google maps are riddled with errors too if you care to look - the satellite images of our region are years behind the Apple's (which seems to be very recent) and all the local businesses are wrong in the Google maps (and right in Apple's).

That hasn't been my experience, and I've used mine all across the country. Particularly in rural areas. I'm frequently surprised at how accurate Google Maps is.

Quote:

Frankly, I think it's good to have a competitor to Google. Some of things it does - even with competition - are really creepy.

Competition is a very good thing. Too bad Apple doesn't share that sentiment. They'd rather sue their competitors out of existence.

The app itself is light-years better than the old one. The data is apparently lacking, especially info like building names, sidewalks, etc on college campuses and in large cities. That's unfortunate. Personally, using it for simple road navigation, I haven't had any problems yet. The data will get better over time.

Google maps has led me and others astray many times, its data is more complete at the macro level, but it's not perfect by any means either. This is the typical media ****storm that happens when any little flaw is discovered in an iPhone.

The biggest part of maps is being able to find what your looking for... Google has a HUGE advantage here, and anyone who thinks Apple's Maps is even close to par with what google does has some funny glasses on...

The search is totally broken in Apple Maps... It seems like it does not really matter what city your in POIs are broken, there is an accuracy issue that is beyond comprehension. The rendering of roads and highways is insane - as there is almost no differentiation between major and minor roads... Block numbers are missing, everywhere... Major water areas like rivers, lakes, and streams are missing or not correct. The list goes on and on... There may be some places where the maps are OK... but from what I have seen its just a mess...

I see very little possible benefit to Google to releasing a maps app for iOS. The maps app is one of the few things that they don't seem to monetize too well. It doesn't show ads and it's rare to even see sponsored results on maps.google.com. So it's hard to see how they'd make money unless they charge for it, which they'd be ridiculed for doing.

Thus, all an iOS Google maps app would do right now is cost them money and help the competition, and that just doesn't make sense.

Google maps are riddled with errors too if you care to look - the satellite images of our region are years behind the Apple's

That hasn't been my experience, and I've used mine all across the country.

OK - by way of example, take a look at Cabot Circus, Bristol, UK. That centre was officially opened 4 years ago, but Google maps shows a building site and the carpark is a big hole in the ground. Apple's maps shows the whole centre as it actually looks today. I would say Google's imagery is at least 5 years out of date.

It seems like Google has a distinct disincentive to offer Maps on iOS 6. Map services are now one of the top uses of smartphones, so Apple's crappy map data is the kind of misfeature that could certainly push people who are on the fence between Android and iPhone into the Android camp. This is also a validation of Google's original Android strategy, which was to create a competitive niche to avoid being locked out of competitor's platforms. (Of course, were it not for Android, Apple might not be gunning for Google, so the strategy might have been self-fulfilling).

You can't tell me Google didn't see this coming? Google could easily have built an app in time. They are now holding off on purpose. Don't put all the blame on Apple for this pissing match.

Exactly. Google had no problem having a YouTube app ready to go and in the App Store already when Apple stopped bundling it with iOS. There is no excuse for not having a maps app ready to go. None whatsoever. Google is deliberately milking this, hoping people will continue to get pissed off at Apple and jump ship. I don't see how this can be interpreted any other way.

- Release it for all browsers (maps.apple.com)- Give all users an incentive to report errors and omissions - something along the lines of 1 free iTunes song or a free extra GB of iCloud storage for every 5 accepted entries, etc...- Give users a way to update the DB directly- Mark user changes as 'pending approval' until verified, but make them available to others- Hire a small army of people to validate these changes (which has the added benefit to help lower unemployment a bit)

Users (i.e. Apple supporters) would just have to make sure that the places they frequent (home, work, gym, etc..) are correctly mapped, or speak up. With billions in the bank, and millions of customers worldwide, Apple could catch up to Google in a year.

You can't tell me Google didn't see this coming? Google could easily have built an app in time. They are now holding off on purpose. Don't put all the blame on Apple for this pissing match.

Sounds like you're being an apologist. All the blame goes to Apple because it was their decision to ditch Google Maps. Why should Google have to submit an application that may get declined all because Apple is too high and mighty to admit that their software generally sucks?

I wonder if it is related to pricing negotiations. It wouldn't surprise me that Google was charging Apple for every map tile loaded on an iOS device since the app was included by Apple. Other app/website developers pay for tile loads in their apps/sites. A Google submitted app to the App Store would presumably be Google's bill to foot, or they could charge the user an up front fee to cover it.

I know that Google started charging for map impressions above a "free" threshold a while ago, and a bunch of implementors jumped ship, causing Google to massively lower those rates. Still, given the number of iPhones in use and how often maps get used, we're probably talking hundreds of millions of dollars in savings, if not billions, by Apple avoiding those fees.

I also know that Google expressly forbids using the maps API for voice-guided turn-by-turn directions. If Apple wasn't able to get an exception for that, then they'd be permanently behind Android in the mapping department, which is probably exactly how Google wants it. And is probably why they're sandbagging on making a third-part Google Maps app for iOS6. This is all about Google leveraging their competetive advantage.

What I'd like to know is why Google's old Maps app doesn't work on iOS6? Are the APIs that much different? It just seems odd that people can't use the old Maps app. Unless it was never available on the app store and only came with the OS. If that's the case, I guess I understand.

You can't tell me Google didn't see this coming? Google could easily have built an app in time. They are now holding off on purpose. Don't put all the blame on Apple for this pissing match.

Sounds like you're being an apologist. All the blame goes to Apple because it was their decision to ditch Google Maps. Why should Google have to submit an application that may get declined all because Apple is too high and mighty to admit that their software generally sucks?

Well, how about the fact that their software doesn't generally suck. That and Google has plenty of apps available for iOS (that Apple approved) and, considering that so many companies had apps ready to be updated on customers devices the day iOS6 was released, they're the ones that weren't prepared.

Apple's Maps is a 1.0 release. I could hardly wait to dump Quark XPress when InDesign was released but it wasn't until v3 that InDesign became the "Quark Killer" I wanted it to be. (My end, vendors, etc.)

What I'd like to know is why Google's old Maps app doesn't work on iOS6? Are the APIs that much different? It just seems odd that people can't use the old Maps app. Unless it was never available on the app store and only came with the OS. If that's the case, I guess I understand.

No, it never was in the App Store. it was bundled with iOS. And it wasn't even Google's app. It has always been Apple's app... they just used Google's data.

Apple had to get away from using Google maps. You can't have a core part of your product so controlled by a direct competitor. Those who are so upset with the new Apple maps seem to forget just how bad the Google maps can be at times, too. (The last time I was in Washington, D.C., I had serious problems because something simple on the Google directions were badly wrong, and I've seen other examples, too.)

The new Apple maps have problems, but the product will get better quickly as people use it and as Apple continues to hire new mapping pros to improve it. In using the new app since it came out last Wednesday, I haven't run into any problems that affect me. I probably will, just as I did with the Google version. They're both imperfect, but the Apple-produced version will catch up with the Google version in time, IMO. I don't see any other realistic way that Apple could have started from scratch and been as good as Google's map product from the first day. Remember how bad Google's maps were five or six years ago?

Apple had to do this to control the data for its product. There wasn't a way to do it perfectly. For me, it's good enough for now. It'll get better. I don't see much else to say about it. And if the Apple app isn't good enough for some reason, I'll just download Mapquest or one of the other competing map solutions. This is not the big deal that some people are making it out to be.

this actually sounds like a lot of bulls$%&$ i mean i'm looking at it from 2 sides, first, why did apple made it's own app so badly (i know it takes years and lots of people but at least you should ease the transition by using google maps for some uncharted areas) and second why is google letting iOS users in the cold, i mean its their business, that is, to produce apps for their services, and they are surelly drinking heavily if they think a user would switch from the iOS ecosystem just for a map...

I'm an android user since 1.5 by the way and still think this is ridiculous

While I do love my Galaxy Nexus, and find Android in general to be great, Google's own mapping isn't the best.

While at VMworld last month I went on a trip to the goldengate bridge. Once across it, I told it to give me directions back to the airport (return rental car) and it had me go back over the bridge, then exit onto highway #1 (I thought maybe the main highway is busy so it's rerouting me), then immediately make a right, a left, another left... Hey wait it's making me drive back over the bridge again (and pay toll again!). Luckily I ignored it before I got onto the bridge and went underneath the bridge and back onto the highway.

A little while later, it had me going up a main road with stoplights every 50 feet. Watched the ETA ho higher and higher. I again ignored it and turned off that main road and onto a side road, and sailed along with way fewer stoplights and no traffic. Got there in half the time the ETA had suggested.